SEYCHELLES REALITY

Urgent Release! The Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) has announced on SBC that it is overhauling two main generators on Roche Ciaman electricity production unit Mahe. This will result in a reduction of 8 mega watts of electricity on  Mahe Island each day, over a period of the next Seven weeks. Consequently PUC will be load shedding throughout Mahe over  the next Seven weeks. While this is the Peak Period of Tourism PUC could careless. DMC are advise to move visitors on to Praslin and La Digue  over next Seven Weeks. Tourism operators are advised to save money to provide refunds  when electricity cuts into Peak Season and irate clients retaliate. Finally, increase security as darkness sets. PL is advised to find someone else to run PUC allow solar panels at one hundred percent use consumption, and eventually sell PUC to a private consortium. End the Madness This is a Seychelles Freedom Party Release     Big fire breaks out at dump site Pro...

Two (2) months ago, when Minister Pierre Laporte was approached by the Seychelles Broadcasting  Corporation (SBC) on the issue of the ongoing economic downturn in March, April, May, June, he said that this is a seasonal issue and it is normal, no cause for alarm and we have to wait and see into November. This answer of course, allows Minister Laporte off the hook, he can buy time, spend time looking after newly acquired boats, enjoy borrowed planes, and plan for his next BMW automobile if he likes. But for the People of Seychelles, the answer was not good enough. Scratch Your Skin To The Bones Players in the Tourism Industry are scratching their skin off their bones, looking for an answer to the economic quagmire Seychelles faces. These people trusted the SPPF in vain that the Government would be responsible in action when it comes to the Tourism Industry. They invested heavily, borrowed from banks, put their lives into their businesses. Their staff who are bar men, waiters, ...

Why would Bank of Ceylon want to open branches in Seychelles & Solomon Islands? Why does Mihin Air fly to Seychelles? Despite their stated Vision of “Bankers to the nation” and the Mission - “Extending banking service to larger society as a beneficial beacon in the country” it’s not so difficult to understand which ‘nation’ or the ‘section’ of the Sri Lankan society Bank of Ceylon is trying to serve with their recent opening of a branch in Seychelles.   With a population of 90,024 and rated as the highest income inequality country in the world, Seychelles has less than 100 Sri Lankans living there. Seychelles is also considered as the money laundering base in Africa and a haven for dirty money! There have been several investigations on reported money laundering cases in Seychelles including by the former Ukrainian President. Anyone can verify these facts with a bit of internet research.       Bank of Ceylon is also looking at opening a...

Call renewed to investigate money laundering via Seychelles  July 17, 2014 2:00 am By Mario Andree Ceylon FT: An opposition lawmaker charged that the government and Central Bank were silent over allegations that influential Sri Lankans could be using Seychelles as a transit point to launder money into Swiss bank accounts. Earlier, Seychelles Foreign Ministry refuted such allegations, but did not discount under-the-table deals. UNP MP Dr. Harsha De Silva, a trained economist, said yesterday (16) that he had called on the government and Central Bank to look into the matter. "There is information that money is being laundered and authorities need to look into this very seriously," he said. Dr. de Silva highlighting the decline of Sri Lankan deposits in Swiss banks to 83 million Swiss Francs from 87 million Swiss Francs previously also comes with the sudden increase of deposits from Seychelles to three billion Swiss Francs from 1.7 billion Swiss Francs. Ac...

Dr Harsha de Silva , MP is a Sri Lankan economist and politician . A current member of Parliament of Sri Lanka , he has gained lime light as a media personality hosting several talk shows relating to development and international matters. In the recent years he voiced his opposition to the economic policies of the current government. [ 1 ] Educated at the prestigious Royal College Colombo , he gained his BS in Business Management from Truman State University in 1988 and went on to complete his MA and PhD in Economics at the University of Missouri in 1993. He has also participated for an executive program on evaluating social programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006 as an Eisenhower Fellow. [ 2 ] As an economist he worked for the DFCC Bank , going on to become its chief economist and treasurer. Thereafter he was the co-founder and Joint Managing Director of The Nielsen Company. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harsha_de_Silva Dr Harsha De Silva...

Remove Pascal Chetty James Michel should be ashamed of himself. Michel needs to apologize for the coup. July 10 at 11:20pm · Like · 2 Remove Hansel Laljee Robert, I have known you for a long time, when you were still at Seychelles College, we used to play basketball and volleyball at the gymnasium . All this time we were friend and remained friend after you joined the armed forces. I feel the pain that you have to apologise publicly for your role in the armed forces. You are a decent person. July 11 at 12:04am · Edited · Like · 9 Remove Jean-Marc B Lablache Good on you Mr Ernesta. July 11 at 1:17am · Like · 4 Remove Judy Chang-Him ''The healing of my people come first and foremost'' isn't that powerful! This means a lot for all the victims n their families. I truly admire your courage to come forward, you are a beautiful soul. Thank you Mr Ernesta. God will help you through...

Monday, 14 July 2014 - 17:00 | Download hirunews  Sri Lanka Foreign Bureau states that they have completed necessary measures to send Sri Lankan professionals to Seychelles. According to a statement released by the Foreign Bureau, several jobs including Accountants, Management positions in administrative fields as well as experienced English teachers are available in Seychelles. A preliminary meeting was held today between Seychelles ambassador and Chairman of Foreign Bureau regarding the matter. http://www.hirunews.lk/87406/jobs-in-seychelles-for-lankans Senadhilankara said that Lankan workers will secure a large number of employment opportunities in Seychelles. He said that many employment opportunities are available in the tourism sector in that country. This was revealed during the discussions held between the Chairman and the Seychelles Ambassador Waweil Williams at the SLBFE. Mr Senadhilankara said that the Sri Lankan skilled workers could obtain em...

It is reported that State House is keeping some Madagascar ants in its garden.These ants are big very large, and collect in colonies of a few thousand at a time.They are known to burrow into tree logs and eat other bugs. They are also red and are known to eat trees and even rubbish. It is reported that these ants are most prolific at the State House  News Agency.The Brain of these ants according to scientist is very small. Because of this they pose a particular danger to the health welfare and general well being of the country. End

11 July 2014, 6:20 pm By Dharisha Bastians Sri Lankan deposits in Swiss bank accounts are now being listed under residential addresses in offshore havens like Seychelles, as Switzerland tightens financial regulations in line with European banking standards, United National Party Parliamentarian and Economist Dr. Harsha De Silva revealed yesterday. According to the UNP Legislator, the most recent report from the Swiss Central Bank reveals that deposits by Sri Lankan citizens amounted to 83 million Swiss Francs in 2013, down from 87 million in 2010. De Silva said that in 2013, 65 million Swiss francs were in the form of indirect deposits. “After the names of some individuals with Swiss bank accounts were revealed a few years ago by an international journalists’ group, Sri Lankans are now afraid of having their names exposed again. So many of these deposits now have addresses based in the Seychelles,” De Silva charged. Seychelles, a country with a population of...

Friday, 11 July 2014 17:27 The United National Party (UNP) said today there was a trend where black money including money swindled from development projects was deposited in Swiss banks through Seychelles because Switzerland was tightening its laws. It said that though all funds deposited in Swiss banks were not ill-gotten lucre a large amount of such funds were deposited concealing the true identity.   UNP parliamentarian and well-known economist Harsha De Silva said the amount of funds deposited in Swiss banks under Sri Lankan addresses had decreased in recent years because of strict laws adopted by Switzerland while deposits through Seychelles had drastically increased. “The population in Seychelles is slightly more than 90,000 but the deposits under the addresses of that country are worth about 3,000 million Swiss Francs last year, which is higher than the accumulated deposits under Sri Lankan addresses,” he said. Dr. De Silva said most of the addresse...

Air Seychelles started twice-weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) flights from Abu Dhabi (AUH) to Paris CDG (CDG) on 2 July. Operated by the airline’s 254-seat A330s, the service originates in the Seychelles at Mahé (SEZ). Competition on the Abu Dhabi leg comes from Etihad Airways (twice-daily), however it should be remembered that in January 2012 Air Seychelles entered into a strategic partnership agreement with the national airline of the UAE, with Etihad acquiring a 40% stake in Air Seychelles and a five-year management contract. Joel Morgan, Air Seychelles Chairman said during a Paris press conference: “We are delighted to be back in France. Air Seychelles passengers can now choose to travel smoothly through Abu Dhabi while keeping the same plane and the same seat or a stopover in Abu Dhabi. Air Seychelles offers 18 connections between Paris and Mahé per week.” The additional connections are offered through a codeshare with Etihad Airways. The first inbound flight app...

By Danish Khan | Jun 13, 2014, 02.30 AM  The London high court has allowed the multi-million-dollar claim of Batelco Group, Bahrain's major telecom operator, against Siva Ltd, an Indian company. In a judgment released on Thursday, Justice Popplewell of the commercial court concluded that "the claim succeeds" and awarded Batelco US $184,793,000 together with a further US $30,000 per day from November 1, 2012. The dispute arose after S Tel, a joint venture between Batelco and Siva Ltd, had its 2G licence cancelled by India's Supreme Court in February 2012. Batelco had commenced legal proceedings alleging that Chinnakannan Sivasankaran, the well-known owner of Siva Ltd, had not enforced a settlement agreement over the joint venture. In January 2008, a 2G licence was granted to S Tel and, during 2009, BMIC Ltd - a 100 per cent Batelcoowned subsidiary company -- acquired 42.7 per cent in S Tel which was registered in India. As per an option agreemen...

Published on : Monday, July 7, 2014 Ahead of Seychelles Tourism Board mid-year marketing meeting, due to be held on 16th July, Seychelles Tourism Board has the visitor arrivals statistics under the microscope. A comprehensive picture of Seychelles visitor arrivals and their impact on the economy can only be relevant if based on factual and up-to-date information. The Seychelles Tourism Board has waited for the release of Seychelles tourism arrival figures for the week ending 29th June 2014, in order to evaluate the trend and draw a realistic picture of the state of Seychelles’ tourism industry. The Seychelles Tourism Board has acknowledged that tourism arrivals from beginning of the year to date is but one percent below that of the same period in 2013. This represents a reduction of less than 2000 tourists: 110,494 as compared to 111,814 the previous year. The month of June 2014, claimed the Seychelles Tourism Board, was a relatively hard month showing a decrease o...

http://www.tax-news.com/news/Seychelles_Agrees_Tax_Policy_Focus_With_IMF____65170.html

Jody Ray Bennett   ISN Insights The Republic of Seychelles has issued China with an open invitation to establish an anti-piracy base in the small island republic. If accepted, this invitation will have security and strategic consequences for the region. On December 3rd 2011, as part of a ‘goodwill’ trip to the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie met with Seychelles President James Michel and announced a boost in military cooperation between the two states. It was the first time a Chinese defense minister had visited the islands in the nations’ 36 years of ‘uninterrupted partnership’. During the trip, Michel announced that the island republic would officially invite China to establish a military base there to help with its ramping up of efforts to combat piracy. The Republic of Seychelles spans an archipelago of over 100 islands approximately 1,500 kilometers off the eastern coast of Africa, just north of the island ...

Jun 30, 2014 Seychelles vision, that its people should claim back its tourism industry, is well set in the business attitudes of its nation. More than ever, Seychellois are taking ownership of their country’s tourism industry and are giving an increased commercial value to the island's hospitality industry. Praslin, the second biggest island of the Seychelles with a range of 117 small and large hotels, is a perfect example where 90% of the properties are owned by Seychellois, who not only know their island inside out, but are today providing personalize service with a special touch of the Seychellois warmth. In his continued drive to visit all 117 small and large hotels on Praslin, Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister for Tourism and Culture; Anne Lafortune, Principal Secretary for Tourism; Sherin Naiken, the Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board; and Nathalie Didon, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Tourism Board heade...

http://ffp.statesindex.org/2014-seychelles